Luckily for Ribery, she saw the funny side of it and didn't book him

The German Bundesliga is yet to start but the DFB Pokal kicked off this weekend and Bayern Munich faced Chemnitzer FC - a team that plays in the third tier of German football. And the match was officiated by Bundesliga’s first ever female referee, Bibiana Steinhaus.

The 38-year-old, who had also officiated at the recently concluded Women’s European Championships in the Netherlands is a FIFA referee and it was the first time she was officiating a match involving Bayern Munich.

The Bavarian side had a slow start but eventually beat poor Chemnitzer 5-0 to advance to the second round. The first half saw only one goal with Robert Lewandowski opening the scoring.

It wasn't until the hour mark that they doubled the lead, again through Lewandowski. Kingsley Coman, Franck Ribery and Mats Hummels then completed the rout with goals of their own.

But the highlight of the day was just before Ribery scored from a free-kick. As he bent down to place the ball for the set-piece, he found referee Steinhaus standing right next to him, talking to Arjen Robben.

The French forward playfully untied the referee's shoelace, much to her amusement. Even Robben can be seen witnessing the whole thing and smiling as Steinhaus hits Ribery on the shoulder with her bottle of vanishing spray.

Luckily for him, she did not pull out a card to book him, giving him a piece of her mind instead as they both laughed it off.

Ribery duly dispatched the free-kick, curling it over the wall to beat the diving goalkeeper and finding the back of the net.